I am pretty sure that the shop i took it too was putting in 5w30 and i was getting that noise i had them put in 10w30 this past weekend and i get no more noise so i dont know we will see what happen's what about everybody else, has anybody seen a change.

 

Yeah, I'll second this. Now that its cold here, my startup noise is completely gone. I use Mobil 1 EP, and its on the thinner side compared to the same visc. of a conventional oil. I had 5w-30 M1 in the truck during the summer months here in NY, and it was ticking loud at startup. Now that I start it in around 32-40F degree weather, not a sound. My next change I'm using 5w-40 Mobil 1.

A funny side note,

the computers at autozone recommend using 10w-30 as the lightest weight in the new dakota. The only reason why the weight is 5w-30 recommended, is because of the standard for fuel savings.

 

I've heard that before that SOME people have more noise with synthetic oils,I've also seen some people claim that they had more noise from certain cheaper oil filters,some think it's because of cheap check valves,I've never had a problem with start up noise on any of my GM vehicles or my Dakota and my brothers Magnum RT,synth or dino,knock on wood.

 

my 02 Dakota with non-HO 4.7L never made the nose, even after 160,000 miles

 

I use synthetic and I have the noise. It goes away after a few minutes. I am going to ask when I take it in next time.